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The 2014 Mazda3’s international unveiling included reveal events from New York City to Istanbul and Melbourne. When creating the launch film “Intuition” and a shorter version as a 30-second ad, though, the automaker used a last-generation Mazda3 as a stand-in vehicle. Get a behind-the-scenes look at how the 2014 Mazda3 launch video was created below.

This isn’t the first time Mazda has used an older car to stand in for a new model — last year, a 2014 Mazda6 promotional video shot at the Bonneville Salt Flats made use of an outgoing Mazda6 sedan, filling in the rest of the details with CGI tricks.

The 2014 Mazda3’s “Intuition” is a bit wilder, visually, than that Mazda6 video. Compositing supervisor Andrew Ashton describes the video’s landscape as a “sci-fi city grounded in reality.” We can see why some compact buyers might see higher-trim Mazda3s as something out of science-fiction; models with $30,000 price tags offer HIDs that turn around corners, a safety system that will apply the brakes in certain situations if an obstacle is detected, and a head-up display.

Director Grady Hall still wanted to keep the video based in reality, even though the experience the actor has with the car all happens in his head.

“We wanted it to feel as real as it felt to him,” Hall said.

Toward the end of the behind-the-scenes video, Mazda gives us a good idea of just how much of the ad was finished with CGI. Check out the videos below, and don’t miss our 2014 Mazda3 First Drive here.

Source: Mazda

The 2014 Mazda3 behind-the-scenes video is shown below with two-minute and 30-second versions of the final video.